Understanding Policy Success: Rethinking Public Policy

Cover
Half-Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Tables, Boxes, Figures and Appendices
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Thorny Topic of Policy Success
	Success: Much Talked About but Rarely Studied
	The Importance of Conceptualizing Policy
	Plan and Approach of the Book
1 Perspectives on Success: The State of the Discipline
	Policy Evaluation and Improvement
	Public Value
	Studies of Success and Failure
		Success
		Failure
	Promoting Good Practice in Policy-making and Programme Management
	Political Strategy and Survival
	Conclusion: Taking Stock of Existing Literature
2 Policy Success: Definitions and Dimensions
	What Is Policy Success?
		A foundationalist position: policy success as ‘fact’
		An anti-foundationalist position: policy success as ‘interpretation’
		Policy success: a realistic definition
	The Three Dimensions of Policy Success
		Process success
		Programme success
		Political success
	Conclusion
3 Dissecting Success: The Spectrum from Success to Failure
	The General Relationship between Success and Failure
		Policy success
		Durable success
		Conflicted success
		Precarious success
		Policy failure
	Processes, Programmes and Politics: From Success to Failure
		Process: from success to failure
		Programmes: from success to failure
		Politics: from success to failure
	Contradictions between the Three Dimensions of Success
		Good process versus bad programmes
		Good programmes versus bad politics
		Good politics versus bad programmes
	Conclusion
4 Complexity: The Problems of Identifying and Measuring Success
	Complicating Factors
		Success for whom?
		Partial achievement of a goal
		Weighing-up multiple objectives
		Reconciling contradictory objectives
		Factoring-in unintended consequences
		What if success is greater than planned?
		Difficulty in isolating the policy effect
		What would have happened if the policy had not existed?
		Dealing with hidden agendas and lack of evidence
		Assessing short-term versus long-term
		Factoring-in spatial context
		Weighing-up conflict between different outcomes in processes, programmes and politics
	Practical Advice for Those Seeking to Assess whether a Policy is Successful
	Appendix: A Ten-Point Framework to Help Guide Researchers in Assessing the Success or Otherwise of a Policy
5 Framing Success: Claims, Counter-Claims and Agenda Impact
	Who Claims Policy Success?
	Unravelling the Discourse of Claims to Success (and Failure)
		The multiple bases of success claims and counter-claims
		Narratives of success
	The Agenda Impact of Claims to Success
		Communicating achievements
		Ordering and stabilization
		Legitimation
		Deflection of criticism
		Justifying continuity
		Opening a window for reform
		Closing a window for change
	Conclusion
	Appendix: Framing Success and Framing Failure – 2008 House of Commons Debate on the UK Labour Government’s Fiscal Rules
6 Strategies for Policy-Making Success: Understanding Opportunities and Risks
	Strategies for Policy Making Success
		Striking a deal
		Using warm, fuzzy, ambiguous language
		Using evidence
		Deliberating
		Joining it up
		Using executive muscle
		Inwards transferring of ideas and practices from other jurisdictions
		Innovating
	Placing Success Strategies in their Context: Helping Explain Feasibilities and Risks
		Mapping the contexts
		An overview of feasible and risky strategies
	Case Study 1: Gun Control Reform In Australia after the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre: Mapping Policy-making Contexts to Explain a Case of Policy Makers ‘Getting It Right’
	Case Study 2: The Poll Tax in Britain: Mapping Policy-making Contexts to Explain a Case of Policy-makers ‘Getting ItWrong’
	Conclusion
	Appendix: Differing Contexts and the Feasibility of Strategies for Policy Making Success
7 Strategies for Evaluating Success: Understanding Pay-Offs and Pitfalls
	What Do Policy-makersWant to Achieve From Evaluations?
	A Tight-Grip Policy Evaluation Strategy
		Keeping tight control of the format of evaluations
		Narrowing the parameters of investigation
		Choosing evaluators who are most likely to produce the desired outcomes
		Strategic use of funding and timescales
		Specifying tools, techniques and methods
		Intervening during the course of the evaluation
		Restricting or blocking the release of the report
		Spinning the report
	Strategy: A Loose-Grip Approach to Policy Evaluations
		Relaxing the format of the evaluation
		Allowing wide parameters for investigation
		Choosing evaluators who may be highly critical of government policy
		Refusing to mould the evaluation through use of funding and timescales
		Allowing substantial freedom in evaluation tools, techniques and methods
		Resisting temptation to intervene during the course of the evaluation
		Allowing full and widespread dissemination of the report
		Resisting spin
	Contexts in which Some Strategies are Riskier than Others
		Mapping the contexts
		An overview of feasible and risky strategies
	Case Study: The 2002–06 Review of Public Administration in Northern Ireland: Mapping Policy Contexts to Explain a ‘Tight-Grip’ Strategy
	Conclusion
	Appendix: Contexts and Feasibility of Tight-, Relaxed- and Loose-Grip Evaluation Strategies
8 Reflections: Cultivating, Sustaining, Learning From and Predicting Success
	Introduction
	Are the Conditions for Cultivating Success the Same in Different Policy Contexts?
		An argument: conditions for success are universal
		An argument: conditions for success are different in every context
		An argument: success as familial
	How Sustainable are Policy Programme Successes?
		Factors helping sustain successful programmes
		Factors hindering the sustainability of successful programmes
		What factors help determine whether a policy success will be sustainable or unsustainable?
	Are We More Liable to Learn from Successes or Failures?
		A starting point: the nature of change and learning
		Learning from success
		Learning from failure
		Learning from success and failure: a balance sheet
	Can We Predict Policy Success?
		An argument: prediction is desirable and feasible
		An argument: prediction is foolish and impossible
		An argument: we cannot predict but we can have foresight
		Striking a balance
	Conclusion
Conclusion: Rethinking Public Policy and Shining a Light in Dark Corners
	Contemporary Models of the Policy Process: A Brief Summary
		Policy cycle
		Rational choice
		New institutionalism
		Groups and coalitions
		Socio-economic models
	The Policy Success Heuristic: A Summary
	Policy Success: Shining a Spotlight in the Dark Corners of Public Policy
		Good politics but bad policy
		Symbolic/placebo policies
		Quick fixes
		Policy on the hoof
		Hidden agendas
	The Policy Success Heuristic: Adding Value to Established Policy Theories
	The Policy Success Heuristic as a New Model of Public Policy
Bibliography
Index